ACROSS VOLUSIA

Stacks of papers, pamphlets and brochures lined a kitchen counter. A bag of red and white ''Incorporate Deltona'' buttons and bumper stickers were on a stool beside a bedroom door.

The paraphernalia represented months of work in the campaign to make Deltona a city.

Tuesday, it was election day and Sue Sims, her feet propped on the living room coffee table, had earned a much-needed rest.

It would be easy to imagine her being emotionally drained. Her husband, Marty, died in January, just as the pro-city movement was picking up steam.

''I spent two days sitting here. I did nothing but cry,'' said Sims, chairwoman of the Committee to Incorporate Deltona.

To cope, she plunged into the committee's work - educating herself about incorporation, drawing up plans, talking with voters, distributing pamphlets, arranging for advertising.

For several months, she worked 10 to 14 hours, seven days a week.

''I didn't want to sit around here and get myself depressed. I made it a full-time job,'' she said. ''I honed in on every detail I could think of.''

Marty Sims would have expected nothing less. He was an enthusiastic supporter of incorporation and a devoted community volunteer. On Jan. 3, he fell from a ladder while taking down Christmas lights at the Deltona Area Chamber of Commerce office.

He died the next day.

''Marty was my biggest fan. He was my biggest supporter. He always said I had more guts than any one person was entitled to,'' Sims said.

''He used to tell me, 'You've got a mission and if anything ever happens to me, you just spend every minute on it.' ''

So she did, with renewed vigor.

''I'm a firm believer in speaking up for yourself. I don't feel people should sit and let others make decisions for them - especially people who don't live here,'' she said.

''I don't understand people who are willing to sit and accept whatever comes their way.''

So she called an organization meeting and rally. She plotted the door-to-door campaign, in conjunction with neighborhood informational meetings.

She began contacting County Council members to gauge support for a feasibility study. And she began contacting state legislators who would have to send the document through the Legislature.

''We literally went door to door,'' Sims said, ''(to) every home that didn't have a 'pit bull on premises' sign.''

When she returned home in the late evenings, and Marty returned to her thoughts, she would go into her back office and type letters on the computer into the wee hours.

''Marty's humor always comes back to haunt me. He used to tell me, 'When I'm gone, you can watch anything you want on TV,' '' she said. ''Here it is, I can watch anything I want - I never turn it on.''

On election day, Sue Sims waited confidently as the hours slipped away and the closing of the polls neared. The tallying of the ballots was just hours away.

Her strategy from the beginning was to educate the electorate. The committee and its army of volunteers did its job. Now, it was up to the voters. No need to worry about the outcome.

There was time to let Marty back into her mind.

''I'm concerned, now that it's over, what am I going to do,'' she said. ''At least enough time has passed that I've adjusted to the loss.''